Badge in Azure Chapter 193

Chapter 193: The Expensive Life (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“That’s absurd! How can anyone buy a house in this place?” Saleen asked Sumano. Lex was considered one of the wealthiest individuals in all of the Qin Empire, but even she did not carry around nine million gold coins wherever she went. Even two million gold coins was too much for her. She would have to auction off some of her items along with Saleen in order to produce that much money. If even Lex could not afford it, then there would only a small handful of Qins that would be able to set up business here in Alchemy City.
This is daylight robbery! Is this even legal? Saleen fumed as he thought about the number of zeros attached to those houses.
“You don’t have to pay in gold coins. You can use magic objects to pay for your accommodation. This city is run by nine sorcerers. There are no lords here. All transactions are done in the alchemy tower located at the heart of the city. If you have high-quality equipment, raw materials, and so on, the people there will be willing to pay for them at prices above the market rate,” Sumano explained patiently.
“What sort of materials are they looking for?” Saleen asked. He had many rare magical artifacts and materials on hand. However, he was unwilling to sell most of them. He still needed to use the items he had extracted from the giant dragon as bait. He would not give them up, at least not anytime in the foreseeable future.
“There is a chart over at the alchemy tower. The price quotes for the materials are stated there. The list is too long and their prices fluctuate too often. I’m afraid I can’t give you an exact answer,” Sumano replied.
“If I can’t even afford to rent a house and I don’t have any suitable materials on hand, will I have to end up sleeping on the streets?” Saleen asked sarcastically.
“I’m afraid that’s simply not possible. See this?” Sumano pointed to a badge pinned onto his long robe before continuing, “This badge is distributed by the sorcerers over at the alchemy tower. Without this badge, should you choose to sleep in the streets at night, you’ll be attacked by the patrolling puppets.”
Saleen was simmering with anger by now. To him, Alchemy City did not feel like the Empire of Magic anymore. Now, he felt like the city was filled with profit-driven businessmen who did not care about the welfare of others.
“So if I’m penniless I’ll have to die here?!” Saleen yelled.
“No! No! It’s not like that,” Sumano whispered harshly in an attempt to calm Saleen down, “If you are broke, you can still chose between two options.”
“What options?!” Saleen roared. Alchemy City was too profit-driven for its own good and the people here treated mages coldly. A desolate mage did not even have the right to sleep on the streets.
“Mr. Saleen, you must have misunderstood what I said,” Sumano said, treading his words carefully. “Without these laws, the population of Alchemy City would have reached tens of millions by now. Think about it – there are so many money-making opportunities here. If I did not need to rent or buy a place, I’d be able to earn so much money offering my services to random people on the street.”
After hearing Sumano’s words, Saleen realized that he might have been a little too impulsive. He used his senses to scan his surroundings and realized that no one had even bothered to look in his direction. Maybe they’re used to newcomers acting like this. Plus, why would they be bothered with such frivolous matters? Saleen thought.
Sumano was right. Even in Holy Rock City, if strict regulations had not been imposed, the population would have swelled to terrifying numbers. Like Alchemy City, Holy Rock City had many money-making opportunities. In fact, for the same job, a person would be able to earn twenty times more in Holy Rock City compared to other areas.
“For mages that can’t afford to study here, they have the option of telling the sorcerers over at the alchemy tower. The sorcerers will be able to arrange a complementary carriage ride out of the city within three days. In fact, these carriages will be able to send you right back to your hometown. Even if you live as far as away as Phoenix, you will not have to pay a single penny,” Sumano explained.
“What about the second option?” Saleen asked. He believed that mages who travelled all the way to Alchemy City would not leave just like that.
“The second option would be to run errands for the officials at Alchemy Tower. The mages at Alchemy City need large quantities of specific materials, some of which must be personally hunted for in the oceans. As a mage, you’d know that these activities take up a lot of time. Unless they’re looking to gain some fighting experience, most mages here in Alchemy City are unwilling to participate in these hunts. They almost always pay foreign mages to do the fighting for them. However, these mages have to surrender every single magical item and material they find over to the officials. No hoarding is allowed. And they have to keep doing this until they repay their debt,” Sumano replied.
Saleen nodded in understanding.
“Wait, so if I’m broke, but I don’t owe Alchemy City anything… can I still participate in these hunts?” Saleen prodded.
“Of course you can. The officials there actually make announcements regarding the goods they need everyday. How else do you think the swordsmen in the east survive? They do the dirty work for these mages. They’re practically servants, if you think about it,” Sumano said. Even though he was merely a mage apprentice, he still looked down on people who chose to become swordsmen.
“Sumano, please eat first,” Saleen said as he tossed a knowing glance at Lex. Lex nodded in approval, indicating that Saleen could decide their next course of action. Upon getting the green-light, Saleen started thinking about the items he could sell to raise the money.
He thought about it, then thought about it some more. He just could not bear to sell anything that he had on hand.
The demon-suit was a no-go. It was more effective than he had expected. Without it, he would have died a long time ago. He was not going to sell the god’s ring either. He still had the calabash left. He did not know exactly what it could do, but he guessed that it was probably a gift left behind by the Myers Goddess.
The crystal ring given to him by Raphael; his family crest; fully constructed puppets… he was not about to sell any of them either.
Advanced scrolls were about as valuable as diamonds. Selling them now would mean that Saleen would never get a chance to buy them in bulk again. Intermediate blank scrolls would not fetch a high price in Alchemy City as they were not in high demand here.
The blank magic book that the Myers Goddess had left behind could not be sold either. Originally, Saleen had not thought much of this magic item. However, Saleen was confident that he would be able to unleash the power of the book after some guidance from Joey. Whatever the book lacked, his magic chords could more than make up for.
One of the most valuable magic items left now was Raphael’s magic book. However, this book was not meant for public eyes. The officials would only need to do a simple background check to verify that Raphael’s book was actually an ancient artifact with thousands of years of history behind it. If they dug any further, Saleen knew that him and Lex’s identities would be exposed. Sooner or later, the things that they had done in the hell of god’s punishment would no longer be able to be kept under wraps.
On the other hand, Lex had about five fully constructed puppets under her command as well as spare parts that could be used to construct the sixth puppet. Selling either the spare parts or one fully constructed puppet would be able to bring in enough money to purchase a house. Even though the art of puppetry was a skill that had been lost over the years, it was not a skill that was unique to Raphael. Heck, he had not even been the founder of the skill. Hence, selling off these puppets would not raise anyone’s suspicions.
Saleen began to relax a bit and started eating. Sika had long ago finished her three portions and was guzzling down Nailisi’s share of the desserts.
As Saleen looked around, he realized that the tavern was well-maintained and everything was spick and span. Just then, the waiter placed some crystal glasses onto the table before using a Cleaning spell to assure Saleen and his friends that the glasses were safe to drink from. Then, he poured some red wine into each of their glasses.
To be able to cast a Cleaning spell indicated that the waiter possessed a rank equivalent or higher than that of an advanced apprentice.
Ever since Saleen had entered Alchemy City, he had only managed to spot two mage apprentices: Sumano, and the waiter that was working in this restaurant. Looks like Alchemy City isn’t mage-friendly after all, Saleen thought.
Saleen did not directly ask Sumano about any information regarding his mentor. He doubted that a grade-5 mage like Jason would be a household name here in Alchemy City. The matters that Lex and Jason were about to discuss were highly confidential. If the officials of Alchemy City caught wind of it, they would go after both Lex and Jason. Saleen could not betray Lex. Not because of their strong camaraderie, but because he had a stake in the magic tower over in the hell of god’s punishment.
If this tower was ever seized by Alchemy City, he could kiss his share of the tower goodbye.
Mages usually did not touch other people’s things, but the key word here was “usually”. Saleen doubted that the grade-9 sorcerers would be able to resist the temptation of making Raphael’s magical artifacts theirs.
“Alright Sumano, tell me more about this alchemy tower…” Saleen said. He was curious as to how this city even functioned without the help of noblemen. Plus, judging by the tone of Sumano’s voice, there seemed to be a lot of swordsmen here in Alchemy City.
Sumano wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a sip of beer before replying, “Magic towers are everywhere in Alchemy City. Contrary to popular belief, the people actually in control if this city are not located inside them. The magic towers located at the heart of the city are but avenues where the nine sorcerers disseminate information. In reality, they cannot be bothered to personally make a trip down. The alchemy tower has a transmission array that is able to transmit sounds and deliver small items. If necessary, it can even teleport people. Thanks to this transmission array, any threat to the alchemy tower will immediately be communicated over to the mages outside of the city.”
“I just want to know… besides the alchemy tower, are there any other places managed by the higher-ups… like for example, this restaurant?” Saleen asked.
“I don’t think so. The territory of this city spans twelve kilometers, and there are over eight hundred thousand people here. Just managing that tower alone is a lot of hard work. In this city, there are a grand total of six miniature alchemy towers. The people that manage these miniature towers are called elemental hands. Those people are the ones who truly manage the city,” Sumano replied.
“Oh? So if I wish to purchase a house, I’ll have to go through them?” Saleen asked.
“Yes, definitely. The alchemy tower is only responsible for announcements as well as transactions between outsiders and Alchemy City. Taxes and military defenses are all under the jurisdiction of the elemental hands,” Sumano explained.
“Are there any royal banks here?” queried Saleen.
“No, the people here at Alchemy City only accept currencies endorsed by the elemental hands,” Sumano replied.
“So I can’t cash in any checks here?” Saleen asked, exasperated.
“You can, at a conversion rate with a five percent loss. If you’re unwilling to convert them into our currency, your checks will be as good as useless here,” Sumano answered.
Five percent did not seem too bad. Sikenqinya checks needed to undergo losses in conversion in Qin banks as well, and their rates of loss could sometimes be even more vicious than the rates provided at Alchemy City. However, these rates only applied to small amounts of money. The loss rate for private transactions would be more favorable if the check was not registered. Here in Alchemy City, each transaction comprised of at least tens of thousands of gold coins. A five percent discount rate would mean losing a huge sum of money.
Saleen guessed that Lex had at least one million gold coins worth of checks with her at this moment. A five percent loss would mean that they would lose fifty thousand gold coins. This caused Saleen to reminisce about the time when he was nearly killed by black mages over a few thousand gold coins after a shady business deal with Aini. Ah… good times, he thought sarcastically.
He knew that money was not supposed to be spent like that. Even the wealthiest people knew better than to spend all of their money. Looks like Lex and I will need to run some errands for the people over at the alchemy tower, Saleen thought. Both Lex and Saleen did not know how many mages died running errands for the higher-ups each year. They did not want to know either. To the mages here at Alchemy City, hunting missions were nothing but a waste of time. That was why they outsourced these activities to other people to save time and effort.
Although they would need to spend money giving these people compensation for their efforts, they would get the benefit of being able to practice magic full-time without having to worry about their supplies ever dwindling.
Mages who were able to dedicate more time on honing their magic would be able to progress at a much faster rate than other mages. Sumano must have had spent his entire youth trying to make ends meet. Thus, he was unable to advance even after decades of being an advanced mage apprentice. Even if he was the most idiotic magician in the world, with adequate practice, he would have at least been able to create magic chords by now and would not have remained as a mere advanced apprentice.
Looks like assimilating to life in Alchemy City isn’t as easy as we thought, Saleen thought gloomily. The costs of living in Alchemy City were so high that many mages were forced to earn money through hunting; picking herbs; digging for minerals… anyone who was broke could forget about practicicing their magic or doing the things they loved.
Saleen suddenly became curious about the origins of true alchemy mages. He also wanted to know if he could become one of them even if he did not have an alchemist’s blood. He was not going to ask Sumano these questions though. He planned to ask his teacher about this once they had met.